Kerfuffle · Windsurfing Magazine just published the July issue, their 4th and last of the year. Page 12, Should Windsurfing Be Sexy?, starts with a photo (similar to the one on the left). The photo has no caption saying who is in it. Shawna Cropas is in the middle and she wants you to know: "Windsurfing ran only a fragment of an article I put together about some of the ladies who sail here at Ho'okipa year round. The magazine only published the group shot of us girls with the title, Should Windsurfing Be Sexy? I was asked to defend the photo, which is completely taken out of context if it's not followed up with the article we wrote to go with it."
What the Mag decided not to publish were the 5 stories of the these 5 women who all sail Ho'okipa and lead remarkable lives.
Nori Hubbs: "Aside from being the best sport in the world, I also love windsurfing because people who windsurf are just great people."
Shawna Cropas: "...seeing other girls ripping it up, inspired me to just get out there and go for it. I love waves and I'm not trying to prove anything other than having a damn good time. There's no better way to stay in shape and keep the 'joie de vivre' bounce in your footsteps than by getting that rush from being out on the water."
Tiffany Ward: "I'm fully inspired and driven by riding big waves, it's like dropping into moving mountains. It makes me feel alive and thankful for the world that surrounds me."
Tatiana Howard: " Windsurfing itself has influenced my whole life. Windsurfing brought me out to see the world, it taught me respect for the ocean while maintaining a healthy lifestyle, created new friendships worldwide and blessed me with the enjoyment of work."
Anne-Marie Reichman: "The love of windsurfing is within me. It's not measured by others or frequent sessions, but by the sessions that make me come off the water stoked and smiling."
The quotes were taken from Shawna's original article she submitted to
Windsurfing. That article ended with this salutation: Happy Hawaiian Breezy Kisses. Don't you wish you could have read it in the Mag? Next best is you can read it online:
Maui Maids
Formula Worlds in San Juan, Puerto Rico will run
June 4 - 9 with $40,000 in prize money. Miami's Alex Morales sets the stage: "The world’s finest Formula sailors have been slowly gathering here in San Juan to prepare for the 2011 Formula World Championship. For many, this is their first visit to the island paradise of Puerto Rico, for others it is a regular stop in their year's travel calendar. Top names here already are: Antoine Albeau (defending Champion), Wojtech Brzozowski, Arnon Dagan, Gonzalo Costa Hoevel, Paulo Dos Reis, Steve Allen, Dennis Little, Sean O’Brien, and Gabriel Browne. Many more are scheduled to arrive in the days leading up to the event." Steve Bodner adds: "A lot of the top pros have been training here for some time and many
amateurs like myself have been showing up steadily all this week. It looks like at least 50 sailors for the event with Marion Lepert and myself from the SF Bay and a 1/2 dozen US sailors from Florida."
The
Formula Class held their first World Championship in 1999. The PWA even raced Formula for a short time. Through the years, undeterred, the Class has moved forward, survived and actually flourished. Racing the 3 foot wide boards has a hard core loyal and faithful following. It is windsurfing's most popular racing class: great for course racing and loved just for the pure fun of recreational sailing. The board is technical, takes practice to learn and tune and excels in light wind. Too bad it wasn't chosen for the Olympics way back when.
San Juan is going to see a lot of pros and a lot of great amateurs; good stuff for a racing class that thrives on strong grass roots support. And you've got to admire their tour this year with $100,00+ in prize money.
Busy Summer · Take a deep breath 'cause 2 days later it's the start of the US Nationals in San Francisco from July 11 - 16. More on that next week.
The
PWA is having a banner year, which translates into the most ever number of events in a single season. The back to back return of the World Tour to Bonaire and Aruba was a great warm up for the busiest month of the year. With 4 stops in July, the Canary Islands will mark the peak of this year's tour. Tour Director,
Rich Page, reported: "We had about 250,000 views of the live stream in June, equates to somewhere in the region of at least 65,000 unique viewers. We will also have live coverage from Tenerife (July 14 - 20, Men & Women Wave) and Fuerteventura (July 22 - Aug 1, Men & Women Slalom)." Psych yourself up for Pozo because Dave White just reported: "
The triple forward was landed today in Gran Canaria, Philip Koster was just short on one and water started the other. Not sure if there is a video or picture sequence but if he did it in practice today when the wind wasn't so strong, you've got to be thinking its going to happen during the event."
After 2 complete contests, guess who is is leading 2 divisions of the American Windsurfing Tour? Ingrid Larouche. She leads the Women and the Amateur. And yes, she is the only female in the latter. Now we're all paying more attention. Learn more about Ingrid in this interview.
The AWT will meet up again for an entire week at the San Carlos Cactus Cup, July 30 in Baja, Mexico 275 miles south of San Diego.
Rewind · Big Winds Big Loop Contest · The just finished loopers gone wild celebration put on by Big Winds and WINDSURFING left in its wake a week long video record of the best flippin' aerialist in the Gorge. When it was all said and done, Big Winds gave away lots and lots of swag. And the winners are...
Experts Division | Best FWD Loop: Sean Aiken - Best Back Loop: Tyson Poor - Best Double Forward: Tyson Poor :: Womens Division | Best FWD Loop: Ingrid Larouche :: Amateur Division | Best FWD Loop: Jay Watermeyer :: Never Looped Before | Best: Brodie Sutherland
Enjoy your holidays with predictwind weather forecast.
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